Final Four for Dummies

This Saturday, April 1st, is the Final Four. For those of you who don’t know what this is, I’ll explain. Every year during the month of March, there is a big tournament where the top 64 Division I college basketball teams battle it out to see who’s the best. Many people complete brackets to bet on and predict the outcome of each round. The chance of being correct is pretty slim because there are always upsets and surprises. There are multiple rounds and after many games, we have finally gotten to the Final Four: South Carolina, Gonzaga, Oregon, and North Carolina.

The matchup on Saturday is Gonzaga vs. South Carolina and North Carolina vs. Oregon. It’s pretty surprising that South Carolina’s made it so far since it was seeded at #7 in its region while Gonzaga held the #1 seed in its region. As you can expect, most are predicting a Gonzaga win, but Sindarious Thornwell of South Carolina has played a key role–scoring over 100 points in four games! For the North Carolina vs. Oregon game, it’s likely to be a very tight matchup between talented teams, but in the end most people are predicting a North Carolina win.

Now if you need further facts to impress your friends, you could add something about the importance of Joel Berry being on his A-game for North Carolina and hoping that he will recover from his injuries quickly. Some other helpful notes to mention are that Oregon has a very strong block percentage; South Carolina has a very low field-goal percentage; the Tar Heels (North Carolina) are really good at offensive rebounds, and finally, and most importantly, Gonzaga’s mascot is a bulldog and it’s kind of adorable! For extra points, you can always casually mention the names Tyler Dorsey (Oregon) and how he moonlights for the Greek National Basketball team and Nigel Williams-Goss (Gonzaga), who was given second team All-America honors by the Associated Press this year, the entity that ranks teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Regardless of which will be the winning team, this weekend will be packed with many twists and turns. Grab some snacks and your friends, and have fun!